The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has urged the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to urgently put in place measures to safeguard peace ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
During a consultative meeting between the two organizations, the Council warned against downplaying the potential threat of having incumbency elections where a sitting President is seeking re-election.
“Traditionally, incumbency elections have been marked by intense polarization, heavy electioneering, and violence before, during and after the polls, as was the case in 1992, 1997, 2007 and 2017″, Rev. Canon Chris Kinyanjui, General Secretary of NCCK, pointed out in a press statement.
“If this trend holds, then we can expect the 2027 elections to potentially be brutally violent,” he added.
Importantly, the NCCK urged the NCIC to establish a hate-speech and incitement monitoring and rapid response mechanism that will gather data and facilitate prosecution of offenders from all political parties.
Further, the Council recommended that NCIC works with community level peace committees to enable them to identify financiers of goons and have them prosecuted.
On his part, the Chairman of the NCIC, Bishop Dr. Kepha Omae, commended the role that NCCK plays in the life of the nation, and proposed that there should be structured engagements.
“We would like to partner with you in the different peace and cohesion initiatives including the Uwiano and the Amani Conference,” he affirmed, and guided that a Memorandum of Understanding be signed between the NCCK and NCIC.
Equally, Bishop Omae and the other Commissioners welcomed the proposals by NCCK, which they said are in line with the Commission’s aspirations and mandate.
On the other hand, the NCCK delegation which was led by the Chairman, Rev. Dr Elias Otieno Agola and Rev. Canon Chris Kinyanjui challenged the Commissioners to ‘present NCIC as a visibly independent and even-handed enforcer’ by publishing clear election-cycle cohesion protocols.
The NCIC meanwhile committed to launch a Peace Pledge during the upcoming Amani Conference and have political leaders sign onto it.
By Michael Omondi
